How you can achieve more by doing less

Make better use of your time with these three tips

Beat procrastination

Shaa recommends tackling the most daunting task first. ‘The Canadian entrepreneur Brian Tracy coined the brilliant phrase ‘eat that frog’ which is one of the best strategies for combating procrastination and getting the most challenging thing done first,’ she explains. ‘At the beginning of the day, look at what you need to do and pick the thing that scares you most or that you’ve been putting off and do that first. If you don’t eat that frog, then you will spend all day worrying or being distracted.’

Use a timer

Using an Italian time management tip has helped Shaa to make the most of her time. ‘The ‘Pomodoro Technique’ is useful when you’re starting a big, new project and you’re not sure where to begin,’ she says. ‘Buy a kitchen timer and before you start work set it to 20 minutes. For that time, do nothing except focus on the task in hand. It is a very effective way to put aside distractions and get started. You might not always create a masterpiece, but just by going through the motions, the brain starts to kick in and things start to flow.’

Batch tasks

‘In its essence batching is a form of time management that allows you to leverage your powers of concentration and decrease distraction,’ explains Shaa. ‘Similar types of work are grouped together to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete the task. Look at your week in advance and ‘batch’ time according to the nature of the tasks or projects at hand. Set aside a defined amount of time and be ruthless.’

Photograph: Corbis

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